Overwhelmed By Beshear Numbers

Kentucky is one of the few states electing a Governor this year, and Democrat Steve Beshear (who in any other state would be a Republican) is up for re-election.  The rule of thumb here in the Bluegrass State is local Democrats, national Republicans, and Beshear is no different.  The first real poll since the primaries sealed the fact Beshear's GOP opponent is former basketball star David Williams is out, and it's terrible news for the Republican.

 

After airing ads for the last three weeks, Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear posted a 21-point lead over the Republican challenger David Williams, according to the latest cn|2 Poll.

Beshear and his running mate, Jerry Abramson, received 51% of support compared to just under 30% for Williams and his running mate, Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer. The independent ticket of Gatewood Galbraith and Dea Riley polled at below 6%, and nearly 14% said they were undecided.


With a lot of time and ad money to be spent before November, Galbraith and Williams have room to grow their support.

Nearly 30% of respondents didn’t have an opinion of Williams, indicating that he still can define himself for a large chunk of voters. But the numbers also show that at least for this snapshot in time, Beshear has accrued goodwill among likely voters.

“There’s been a debate about whether the TV is effective. I don’t think it’s winning any votes to speak of, but it’s helping him with the perception battle,” said Al Cross, director of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues and former political writer for the Louisville Courier-Journal. 

Beshear having 51% at this point means independent Foghorn Leghorn Gatewood Galbraith is only making Williams' margin of loss larger.  Most interesting cross-tab?  Some 20% of self-identified Tea Party voters are still backing Beshear, even with two more conservative candidates in the race, which tells you pretty much all you need to know about Kentucky Democrats.  Beshear's favorability ratings are 68% compared to Williams's 40%, so unless something major happens here in the next couple months, Beshear's going to walk away with this.

Joe Sonka has more at B&P.